Vermonters push for tougher DUI laws
2:33 p.m.
Toolbox
By DANIEL BARLOW - Published: March 23, 2010
Vermont Press Bureau
MONTPELIER – Hundreds of Vermonters calling for tougher drunk driving laws – many of them friends, family members and classmates of a Swanton teenager killed in an accident almost three years ago – flooded the Statehouse Tuesday.
The advocates were pushing for a bill that would increase the criminal penalties for repeated drunk drivers, inspired by the tragic November 2007 death of 18-year-old Nick Fournier, who was killed in a car accident with an intoxicated man.
Wearing blue shirts with the word “Nick” in white lettering, many said they felt frustrated and disappointed in the legislative process because the bill has not come up for a vote. This is their third year advocating for the issue at the Statehouse.
“We feel like they are not listening to us,” said Geoff Domey, a friend of the Fournier family who helped organize the lobbying, known as Nick’s Day. “We’re not going to give up. We’ll come back every year if we have to.”
The man accused of causing the fatal accident, Shawn Burritt, faced his fourth driving while intoxicated charge – this time with a death resulting enhancement attached – for that accident. Police said Burritt was driving down the wrong side of Interstate 89, crashing his car head first into a vehicle that Fournier was driving.
Among the changes to Vermont’s DUI law that the advocates are seeking are include requiring prison time for a third or subsequent drunk driving conviction and setting up a mandatory minimum of five years in prison for more than five convictions.
But each year, the bill does not move beyond the House and Senate Judiciary committees, the legislative bodies that have jurisdiction over writing Vermont’s criminal statutes.
One lawmaker they do have in their corner is Rep. Brian Savage, R-Swanton. A freshman legislator, Savage took over the House seat of retired Rep. Kathy Lavoie, R-Swanton, several years ago. Passage of this bill was Lavoie’s goal, he said, and now it is his goal too.
“This bill will pass,” Savage said. “I don’t care if it takes a lifetime to do it.”
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